With its 3-0 win over the Wake Forest (18-7, 7-5 in the ACC) Saturday afternoon in Winston-Salem, the Duke volleyball team avenged its 3-2 loss to the Demon Deacons on Sept. 30th and improved its record to 9-15 overall and 5-7 in the ACC.
Head coach Jolene Nagel was very impressed with the strong performance of her squad.
"We played very well as a team today," Nagel said. "We were very, very focused...we were aggressive and really competitive."
Senior Krista Dill highlighted the match with three blocks, which increased her career total to 532, giving the senior sole possession of the all-time Duke record.
"[Krista's accomplishment], that was pretty exciting," Nagel said. "She's always been a great player, and she deserves it."
Although the final score was a 3-0, the match could have just as easily gone to five games had the Blue Devils not stepped up in several crucial situations. In the first game, the two teams were tied at 20-20 before Duke went on a 10-4 run to clinch the opening frame.
Nagel admits that the first game, during which the Blue Devils attacked with a mere .250 success percentage, was Duke's sloppiest of the night.
"In the first game we were really up and down," Nagel said. "We were controlling the ball, but we just kept on shooting ourselves in the foot."
In stark contrast, Duke played with precision in the second game. The Blue Devils attacked with resolution, recording a .400 attacking percentage, and simultaneously holding Wake Forest to a meager .023%.
"In the second game we pulled away and never looked back," Nagel said.
Then, in the third frame, Duke trailed Wake Forest from the onset. The Deacons, determined to avoid a three-game sweep, rallied behind freshman Lauren Peterson, who led her team with 12 kills, and opened up a 25-21 lead. At that point, Nagel used her team's final timeout in an effort to rally her troops. Duke responded positively and won six consecutive points to take its first lead of the game. From there, Duke took five of the final seven points to win the third game 30-27 and finish off a sweep.
Along with her three blocks, Dill tallied 10 kills, second only to senior Katie Gilman, who led the team with 13. Freshman Nana Meriwether also made a significant contribution to the Duke attack, adding 11 kills and recording a .526 attack percentage--a statistic her coach could only describe as "remarkable."
Nagel was also greatly impressed by junior Stephanie Istvan's excellent defensive effort; Istvan recorded 16 digs against Wake Forest.
"Stephanie was really solid on service...[which] played a crucial role today," Nagel said.
Duke will seek to continue its success on its current ACC road trip Tuesday when it travels to Atlanta, Ga. to face No. 4 Georgia Tech.
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